Category: Newfoundland and Labrador

NLLA Conference 2026: Overdue, but Not Lost: Renewing Our Community

When: Friday, June 5th, 2026
Where: McCann Centre, Education Library, Memorial University, AND online

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

It’s been a while since we last came together in 2019. Much has changed – but some things remain constant: the strength, innovation, resilience, and care that library workers bring to communities across Newfoundland & Labrador.

This year, we’re finally coming back together – and like a well-loved library book, we may be a little overdue, but we are certainly not lost.

Our theme, Overdue, but Not Lost: Renewing Our Community, marks a moment of reconnection. It’s an opportunity to renew relationships and build new ones, to share experiences and learn from one another, and to celebrate the work happening in libraries of all kinds in our province.

Whether you’ve been part of the Newfoundland & Labrador library community for decades or are just finding your place within it, we welcome your voice. We invite proposals from library workers across all sectors on any library-related topic, either practical or theoretical. You might share a successful project or program, a challenge you’ve navigated, a research question you’ve explored, or an emerging technology or idea shaping your work or your thinking about libraries.

The conference will take place on Friday, June 5, 2026, as a hybrid event, with opportunities to present either in person in St. John’s or online from anywhere in Newfoundland & Labrador.

We welcome a variety of session formats:

  • Presentation: A 30-minute session, including a 20-minute presentation and a 10-minute Q&A. May be research-, practice-, or theory-based.
  • Mini Workshop: A 45-minute, interactive or activity-based session. May be research-, practice-, or theory-based.
  • Lightning Talk: A 7-minute timed presentation offering a brief glimpse into a concept, project, program, activity, or idea.
  • Something Else: Have an idea that doesn’t fit these formats? We’d love to hear about it.

The deadline for proposals is Friday, May 1st.

Please submit your proposal using our online form (https://tinyurl.com/LetsRenew), and remember to include:

  • the proposed session type (presentation, workshop, lightning talk or other)
  • the delivery format for your session (in-person or online)
  • your session title plus a brief abstract (max. 250 words for a presentation, workshop, or other; max. 100 words for a lightning talk) describing your topic and the goals of your session.
  • your contact details (name, library, position, telephone number and email address) for yourself and any co-presenters.
  • a brief (max 50 word) biography for each speaker.

For questions or comments, please contact Janet Goosney (jgoosney@mun.ca).

We hope you decide to join us as we bring our community back together – across distances, roles, and experiences – and restart the conversations that will carry us forward.

We’re overdue. Let’s renew.

 

The House of Assembly has paid tribute to a woman who was a stalwart member of their team for three decades.

House Speaker Paul Lane opened a session this week by acknowledging the passing of Norma Jean Richards, who was a legislative librarian with the House of Assembly from 1967 to 1997.

Lane says that during her time with the legislature, the woman was a “legend.”

Lane says Richards served during the tenures of six different premiers and eight speakers, and was a recipient of the Canada 125 medal in 1993. He says “she can be credited with building the foundation of the library collection still used to this day.”

Source: VOCM

The AC Hunter Public Library in St. John’s unveiled a new display with books about difficult topics for children. Librarian Jan Moffett hopes stories about things like addiction or the death of a loved one can help children and parents share and grasp these sensitive concepts.

Video at link

Source: CBC Newfoundland & Labrador

The library community in Newfoundland and Labrador is worried legislation before the House of Commons would give Canada Post the ability to increase mailing costs for library materials across the province.

They’re also concerned the Mark Carney government’s proposed changes—outlined in the Liberals’ recent budget bill—will remove Canada Post’s requirement to provide free postage for materials for persons with visual disabilities.

Bill C-15, which passed its second reading in Ottawa last Wednesday, would implement parts of Carney’s controversial federal budget.

Tucked into the 634-page document are amendments to the Canada Post Corporation Act, including a provision which allows public libraries to benefit from what’s called the “Library Book Rate” — a postage discount for libraries.

Continue reading “NL: Library advocates say federal bill could make postal costs untenable” →

The provincial government says it is aware of proposed changes to Bill C-15, the Canada Post Corporation Act and has been assured that the current reduced postage rate for library materials will be maintained.

Changes to the bill will allow the corporation to set it’s own rates without seeking the approval of the federal government.

That was a great concern for the province’s 94 public libraries that regularly send books and other materials through the mail.

Regional Librarian for St. John’s Public Libraries, Emma Craig says libraries make regular use of the postal service to share materials not just between libraries in the province, but with libraries in other provinces as well.

“If an item is not available with us here at NLPL, but another library in Canada has it, we will be able to work with them in order to get items that might be a little harder for patrons to get” says Craig.

“About a quarter of our library circulation just from last year were done through this system-wide hold system.”

The Department of Education says it has received confirmation from the federal government that Canada Post will maintain free materials through the Library Book Rate.

Source: VOCM